The social engagement of VP Bank Group

At home in Liechtenstein as well as at all of its global locations, VP Bank Group upholds its responsibility towards society through charitable donations. For years now, it has been supporting numerous initiatives and small projects in the areas of social services, emergency relief, health, education, culture, conservation, the environment and youth sports.

Sponsoring is one instrument in the toolbox of brand management. VP Bank Group lends a hand to its commercial partners (persons, groups, organisers of special events, etc.) by donating money and/or services as a means of supporting cultural, sports, social and media-related activities, with the intention of fostering a positive image transfer and achieving VP Bank Group’s own strategic goals. Apart from communication goals such as name recognition, empathy and image, this also includes the client management goals of client acquisition, retention and loyalty.

Going forward, VP Bank Group desires to strengthen its position in the defined core markets. Therefore, given the reorientation of VP Bank Group’s corporate positioning, it was decided that all of the Bank’s sponsoring activities were to be reviewed. The new sponsoring concept defines the strategic thrust, fundamental principles, objectives and implemen­tation standards for VP Bank Group’s approach to sponsoring. This reorientation will be introduced in the spring of 2014. 

The VP Bank Group Art Foundation was established in 1996 and collects works by international as well as regional contemporary artists. Its purpose is to foster art appreciation within VP Bank Group and promote visual arts by means of acquisitions and art-related publications. The purchased works are displayed in the offices of VP Bank Group as well as at art exhibitions. They are also loaned to third parties for showings at other venues.

Hans Brunhart is Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In December 2013, the benefactor named Fredy Vogt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VP Bank Group, as a new member of the VP Bank Group Art Foundation’s Board of Trustees. IGT Intergestions Trust reg. withdrew from the Board.

The collection was expanded in 2013 through the purchase of a renowned work. The collection profile has been fine-tuned and, as a result, works that no longer fit the profile are taken out of the collection and gifted to institutions that can better integrate them into their own collections. Last year, the Foundation bestowed a number of works to the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation for addition to its collection. 

The client zone at VP Bank Group’s main office in Vaduz was visually enhanced in 2013 through the display of works that were acquired over the past years. The objective of doing so is to make the re­orientation of the Foundation more obvious in the client zone, the place where VP Bank Group makes the greatest public impression with its collection. 

In January 2013, an expert jury chose the most appealing books made in Liechtenstein in 2012. The catalogue “At eye level – an encounter with the VP Bank Group Art Foundation collection” received an award.

The VP Bank Group Foundation was initiated in 2006 and established in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of VP Bank Group. In keeping with its statutes, the Foundation patronises projects, individuals and institutions that have gained an outstanding profile in the areas ecology, art, education, science and culture. Charitable activities in the interest of the broad public are also supported. This patronage is also intended to be connected in some way with Liechtenstein as well as the corporate values of VP Bank Group. Donations can also be made for welfare and social purposes. 

The Board of Trustees comprises Hans Brunhart and Fredy Vogt. During the year under review, the VP Bank Group Foundation distributed around CHF 450,000 to worthy causes. 

As in previous years, support for the University of Liechtenstein’s Chair for Corporate, Foundation and Trust Law represented a major part of VP Bank Group Foundation’s activities. It has played an important role in the establishment and continuation of this professorship by contributing three annual tranches of CHF 100,000 each. Through this sizeable contribution, the Foundation is supporting the scientific assessment of legal issues that are of tremendous significance for the positioning of the Liechtenstein financial centre. Since its establishment, the professorship has gained a high profile and today enjoys broad popularity and a fine reputation. The VP Bank Group Foundation, whose support has had the nature of start-up funding, will not continue its patronage in this form beyond the initially agreed term, but will nevertheless consider smaller-scale support of specific projects. 

Sponsorship of the research project “The specific structure of Liechtenstein as a microeconomy”, which was also arranged for a three-year term, was concluded during the period under review with disbursement of the third payment tranche. The project has come up with new and important findings with regard to the economic structure of Liechtenstein. Thus the VP Bank Group Foundation can also draw a positive balance from this sponsorship project.

In addition, the Foundation has made a financial contribution to a project for facilitating access to data on sustainability investments, which are being made available to specific participants in the continuing education programme of the CEPS Centre for Philanthropy Studies as well as students at the University of Basel. A further commitment to education was the long-standing annual contribution to the Gutenberg in Liechtenstein institute of higher learning.

In the area of ecology, in 2013 the Foundation lent support to the “pro natura – pro ski” foundation, which was initiated by VP Bank Group more than a decade ago. In close collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, the Foundation’s activities make a recognised contribution towards the ecologically conscious development of winter sport resorts in a way that balances the interests of all stakeholders.

Ever since its establishment, the VP Bank Group Foundation attaches the greatest value to continuity in its support of the environment, education and science and will also pursue this policy in the years to come. 

In terms of the Foundation’s cultural patronage, contributions to the Liechtenstein-Werdenberg Orchestra and the Klanglabor Arno Oehri are just two examples.

In connection with the annual “Lichtblick” campaign, 36 social institutions in Liechtenstein received grants from the Foundation: it disbursed a total of almost CHF 87,000 to this initiative and other projects of social institutions and associations in Liechtenstein and the surrounding region. 

Again in the past year, a portion of the Foundation’s capital was invested in the EMF Microfinance Fund AGmvK as well as in VP Bank Group Balanced (CHF) Strategy Fund class C units. Both positions are being maintained. Via returns from the latter commitment, the relief organisation “SolidarMed” received financial aid. Owing to the recognised accomplishments of this organisation, the purpose-related funding agreement was renewed and the contributions increased.

The VP Bank Group Foundation is a member of the Liechtenstein Association of Charitable Foundations e.V. and Switzerland’s related organisation, “SwissFoundations”. The Board of Trustees is engaged in the expansion of the Liechtenstein Association and benefits from the valuable exchange of ideas and experiences in both federations.